Foxconn selects company with close ties to Walker

MADISON, Wis. – Foxconn Technology Group has selected a company led by a Republican megadonor with close ties to Gov. Scott Walker to develop the master plan for its massive campus in Wisconsin.

Foxconn announced Monday that it chose Hammes Company to be the lead developer on the project that will house a display-screen factory on a campus spread over 2,900 acres (1173.61 hectares). Foxconn could qualify for up to $4.5 billion in taxpayer incentives.

Hammes is led by Jon Hammes, Walker’s campaign finance chairman for his re-election bid. Hammes is part owner of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks and has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republicans and causes over the years.

Wisconsin Democratic Party chair Martha Laning says the Foxconn project “is all about helping Scott Walker save his own career and not about the people of Wisconsin.”